South Portland, ME The Locker Project will move into 6,000 s/f of office space, formerly occupied by Spurwink, at 111 Wescott Rd. The landlord, Colonial Adjustment, was eager to support a local nonprofit and its mission of hunger relief, and the deal closed in just six weeks. The Boulos Company’s Samantha Marinko and Greg Boulos represented Colonial, and Boulos’s Cameron Foster represented the Locker Project.
The Locker Project connects food-insecure children in Greater Portland with nourishing food—rescuing thousands of pounds of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, and bread from markets and bakeries that would otherwise go to waste. Local farms and Good Shepherd Food Bank provide another 15,000 to 20,000 pounds of produce and staples. The team, including scores of volunteers, picks up, sorts, packs, and shares this food with children and families through a network of partners and programs.
The Locker Project has grown from stocking a handful of school pantries in 2014 into a full-scale hunger relief operation with seven staff members, 100+ active volunteers, more than 45 school and agency partners, and countless community supporters. This year, they expect to share more than half a million pounds of nourishing food with children and families.
“When the pandemic began, we nearly doubled our output overnight, and the need for healthy food access has continued to grow,” said Locker Project executive director Kathryn Sargent. “We’ve been looking for a larger space that we could afford that was also close to our partner schools in Portland, South Portland, and Westbrook. It was a tall order, but Cameron Foster was undaunted by the challenge! The team at Boulos really came through for us—as did the folks at Colonial Adjustment.”
Having the space to store three times as much produce means more kids and families will experience the joy and well-being that come from reliable access to fresh, nourishing meals. Seeing kids’ faces light up when they realize they can take fresh berries or tomatoes home to share with their families is incredibly rewarding!”
“Throughout the state of Maine, over twenty percent of kids are food-insecure,” said Scott Kidder, CEO and president of Colonial Adjustment. “The Colonial family is thrilled to partner with an organization that is focused on this critical issue. Having access to the Locker Project in the same building provides our team a chance to make a difference.”